§ 42. Mr. Wainwrightasked the Minister of Aviation if he will give the number of personnel in his Department who possessed an engineering qualification, for each of the past 10 years; and what estimate he has made of the comparable number for the year 1970.
§ Mr. StonehouseThe Ministry of Aviation was not formed until 1959. The information requested is available for the years 1962 and 1965 only, when the numbers were 1,950 and 2,050 respectively. No estimate has been made of the number of engineers the Department will have in 1970.
§ Mr. WainwrightDoes my hon. Friend realise that there is great feeling in this House that his Department has not moved along with the scientific and engineering trends in society today? Would he consider rectifying this defect in his Department? 1314 May I ask whether he will publish from time to time regular estimates of expensive projects in his Department?
§ Mr. StonehouseThat is already being done and I think that the House and the country have formed a very high opinion of the excellent research work being done at our research establishments. This is not only ahead of what is being done elsewhere in Europe but it is in many respects ahead of what is being done in the United States.
§ Mr. R. CarrCan the Parliamentary Secretary tell us how many of these qualified engineers are in the direct administrative chain of command rather than in purely technical services or advisory capacities?
§ Mr. StonehouseAbout 9 per cent.